


Puppies and Questionable Friends

by IraBragi



Series: Building Home [8]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Harley is a good friend, M/M, Puppies and feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 06:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IraBragi/pseuds/IraBragi
Summary: Life with the Batfamily can be... a lot.  Sometimes it really helps to get it off your chest, also puppies.





	Puppies and Questionable Friends

“And if you had shown even the smallest amount of common sense instead of rushing in like a fool with a death wish…”

“Do I have a death wish?  Do I?  As I remember it I got that wish answered, and working with you is making me wish is had stuck!”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!!”  
“I DON’T KNOW!  MAYBE I SHOULD ASK MY FATHER?  Oh that’s right he is a stubborn old…”  
“I AM NOT OLD!”

The shouting echoed throughout the entire apartment.  It had been a long day and Bruce and Jason seemed determined to make it longer.  

It’s not that I’m unused to shouting matches.  They are the Wayne family's primary form of communication, but they are usually not in my living room - for the very simple reason that Bruce is rarely at my house.  He and Jason may have gotten much better at coexisting, or even getting along on occasion, but they still but heads more often than not - and I refuse to let my home serve as the boxing ring.  But Jason was over (he spends more time at my place than his these days, which is wonderful, and terrifying, and a freakout for a different day.)  Anyway, Bruce stopped by to see him before he went on patrol and, of course, an argument ensued.

“...well if you payed more attention to…”

“...SCREW YOU…  and you are too old…”

Fuck this, I’m so done.  If the boys wanted to tear each other to shreds I wasn’t going to play referee and I sure as heck wasn’t going to sit here and listen.  Besides, I might be used to shouting, but it still reminds me of things I’d rather not think about.  Jason knows this and frankly I’m pissed at him for engaging.  I walked past the two of them and towards the front door.

“If you two break anything I’m making Bruce pay for it.”  I’m fairly certain that they don’t hear me.

I realize the problem with my plan after about a block.  I brought my book and my wallet but I didn’t grab my phone or keys.  It’s also getting dark and I was walking through a not-so-nice part of town in Gotham.  Granted, I can hold my own, but I didn't’ even have my tac baton on me and I’d rather just avoid trouble.

I thought about going back for my phone but… who exactly did I plan on calling?  Grayson and Tim were probably about to go on patrol and while they were great, I couldn’t exactly talk to them about how their brother and father were driving me up the wall.  Damion was grounded so he was around and he’d happily sneak out with me and start trouble.  It was almost tempting, if only to get back at Bruce, but honestly I was tired and keeping up with the littlest bird was exhausting even under the best of circumstances.  My little sisters were also out for the same reasons.  Even if Rebecca was talking to me today (she flips between trying to convince me of the error of my ways and cutting me off  because I “am a negative source of energy”)  and talking with her was the opposite of relaxing.  Connie was great, but she is a child.  Today I wanted a friend.      

When had my life gotten to this point?

I zipped my hoodie up and curled my hand into fist in my pockets.  Maybe I could find that coffee shop that Tim is always going on about.  I think it’s open 24 hours.  I nod to myself, that’s a good plan.  If I waited  a couple of hours, Jay would be gone on patrol and I could go home in peace.  With that decision made, I turned the corner and start walking briskly… into something hanging from fire escape railing over my head.

“HEy!  Watch where ya go’n!”  In contrast to her injured tone, Harley swung gracefully down and with a flip and a cartwheel and ended up standing in front of me.  Her makeup was smudged, but with her it’s hard to tell if that’s intentional or not.  At least she isn’t bleeding from two compound fractures and screaming bloody murder while trying to chew off her handcuffs (fear toxin sucks no matter who you are.  When the poison also messes with your meds and you try to take on most of the Bane’s men plus all the Bats it really, _really_ , sucks.  Even with the latest antidote it had taken me and Ivy two days to get her anywhere near stabilized - and another two to convince Bruce that it wasn’t her fault and she really shouldn't have to go back to Arkham.)

“Sorry Harley.  I didn’t see you there.”

“That is the POINT.  No one should see me!”  Had she gone off her med again?

“I was trying to figure out if there is a TV made before 1976 anywhere on this block.  I was being QUIET!”  Nope, this sounds about normal.

“Sorry for interrupting, I can go.”  Before I had taken two steps she darted in front of me again.

 “It’s dark out.  Where you going?  Are you planning on robbing a bank?  Because if you are you need a better disguise… But why would you want to rob a bank?  Can’t Batsy pay you for being Chapel?  And then your boy will have to come lock you up…  Seriously I’ll give you the money, I have heaps and heaps.  You shouldn't rob anyone!”

Her rambling drifted off and she looked at me again, closer this time.  “Are you ok Chapel?  Why are you really out here?”

I’m not sure why I opened my mouth.  Maybe I didn’t think it though.  Maybe I just really needed a friend.  In any case I did.

“Do you ever wonder how you go to where you are Harley?  ... and think that maybe somewhere along the way you missed something?”  Her staring was starting to get unnerving, then she smiled.

“I know what to do!  Come on!”  With that we were off.  Her navigation skills reminded me of the old nursery rhyme - “over the river and through the hills” only in this case it was, “over the dumpsters and through the alleyways, and around the sleeping bums, and over the chain link fence of Gotham’s one and only animal shelter.”

“I don’t think we are supposed to be here Harley.”

“Well we are here so we are clearly where we are where we are supposed to be.”  I suppose there might be something to that logic… or not.

“Come on… come on!”  The lights were mostly turned off, leaving only enough light mostly not bump into things.  She wound her way around the kennel blocks and stopped in front of a door.

“Well go in then!  They won’t bite.  Slobber a bit maybe but…”  I tuned her out and opened the kennel door.  Inside curled up in a nest of fluffy blankets and newspaper was a mama dog and half a dozen puppies.  Even in the low light I could see that she had the blocky head and husky body of pitbull mix.  I knelt down, careful not to crowd mama and without even thinking found myself making cooing noises.

“Oh you’re a pretty one aren’t you?  And how many pups do you have?  Are you going to let me see?  Yeah?”

How had Harley known?  The puppies were a few weeks old but not quite weaning age, and they were immensely interested in the new human now sitting by their bed.  I didn’t move until momma shook her head and pulled herself up to come sniff at me.  After a long moment I guess I passed muster, of maybe she was just happy to have someone else take care of the pups and let her sleep, because I had a lap full of warm, wiggling, squeaking, puppies.  I was in heaven.        

It is a scientifically proven fact that time slows when you have your arms full of puppies.  All their noses needed to be kissed, and their tummies needed to be rubbed, and for what felt like the first time in days, I felt the tension seeping out of my bones.  After a bit Harley swung down from the rafters to sit next across from me.  One of the pups tottered over to her and she began scratching its ears and cooing nonsense about love being the greenest color.

It’s been a long time since I spent a summer volunteering at an animal shelter.  It had been a rough time for me (most of my adolescence had been, honestly) and there had been many afternoons when I would just go sit with one of my “angles.”  The dogs who needed some extra love.  I had forgotten how good it felt.

We sat there in the dim light, just enjoying the quiet, for while longer.

“So how you doin’ sawbones?  Is your hunky boytoy treating you right?”  I rolled my eyes but smiled.

“Sorry Harley, we’re still monogamous.”  She laughed.

“I know, I know.  But you can talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you.  I  _was_  a doctor.”  I shook my head and found myself trying to put it into words.

“Do you ever worry that it’s just a matter of time before it is all going to crash and burn?  That you fucked up so bad that you are already over the edge of the cliff, and like the roadrunner, you’re just waiting for the fall?”

Maybe she actually had been a doctor at some point, because she did the little “hmm” noise and let me keep talking.

“I’ve left people behind and I’ve made choices… and I thought… I think... I did what I had to, but…” my words trailed off.  

Apparently tears taste good when you are a six week old puppy because the one I was holding was doing her best to lick my face dry.  “I miss them.”  I take a deep breath but it’s like the extra air tears something loose inside my chest and the tears start in earnest.  I put the puppy down, my hands are shaking too badly to hold her.  “Sometimes I’m so afraid.”

Harley lets me cry.  Momma comes over and nuzzles her head under my arm and I hold on to her solidness.

As the tears wind down I look up at the woman in the clown makeup and pigtails and she smiles sympathetically back at me.  “Do you ever wonder if you deserve to be alone?”

She shakes her head “no” vigorously.  “No one deserves that!”  She pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket.  Someone had scribbled what looked like the plans for a safe on one side in sharpie.  I wipe my eyes anyway.

“Did they love you?  The ones you left behind?”

I don’t have to think to answer that one, the words just spill out, “They thought they did.”  She nods.

“It’s hard when the people who are supposed to be safe are the ones who you have to run from.  Sometimes it feels like blaming yourself would hurt less.”  Her eyes are far away now.  I know enough of her history with “Mr. J” that I don’t doubt that she does know.

“Are the Bats treating you right?”  I’ve never quite figured out how much she knows about me.  She calls me Chapel but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she knew  _everyone’s_  real identities.  She’s way smarter than she wants people to give her credit for.

“They are… I’m not…”  How do I put this into words?  It’s been what?  A bit over two years or so since I met Damien, and Jay and I have only admitted that we are together for a couple of months.

“There is this voice in my head that keeps reminding me that one of these they are going to wake up and realize that I’m just kid who showed up and never had the good manners to leave.  I’m not special, I’m not even particularly useful, I’m just there; what right do I have to be in their lives?   And Ju, (I bite my tongue to stop myself) ...Hood, is going to get sick of someone who can’t fight with him.  He deserves someone who can watch his back.  Besides, He’s had it rough, so much worse that my sob story.  I’m just a idiot who...”

“But he chooses you.”  Harley’s voice was far softer than I’d ever heard it before.  “He’s chosen you every day for as long as I’ve known you.”  She slides back into her normal accent, “‘Sides, a fine specimen like that, it’s not like he’s lacking for other offers.”

“Thanks Harley” I rejoin dryly.

“THAT’S my Point!  He could be with whoever but he’s with you.  And you’re not so helpless, you do the putting people’s bones back in them thing.”

“Ehh, they managed for a long time before I was around.”

She waves that away with a grand gesture of her hand.  “But you’re safe.  When we beat the crap outta each other you are the place to go and it’s like home base in tag.  If anyone tries to tag you at base you shoot them!”  This raises a lot of questions in my mind about her childhood but I think I get the point that she is making.

“Thanks Harley.  I bet you were a really good doctor.”  She shrugs.

“We all find our way on different paths.  At least that’s what my fortune cookie said.”  We play with the puppies for a bit longer but they are starting to fall asleep for real so eventually we put them back with their mother and tiptoe away.

“You could talk with someone about this stuff for real if you wanna.”  How does someone who wears six inch spiked heels move so damn quiet?  It’s my turn to shrug.

“Hood wouldn't think less of you, ya know.  And if he does I’ll take a bat to his knees!”  We both smile at that.

“Intruders halt!”  My head snaps around, only to be confronted by Nightwing and Robin.  As the words sink in Harley, Nightwing, and I all turn to stare at Damien who glares at us from under his mask.   

“Intruders halt?  What is this, a B-rate kung-fu movie?”  Grayson had clearly dismissed us as a threat and turned his attention to the real crime that was occurring.  “We have _got_ to stop letting you watch Netflix unsupervised kid.”

We all stood there, in the dark, outside of the closed animal shelter, staring at each other for a second.  Damion was glaring, Nightwing looked distracted, and I felt vaguely guilty.  It was Harley who broke the silence.

“So I know you boys have to uphold justice and all that good stuff but isn’t attempted puppy petting a little outta your league?”  That got a snicker form Grayson.

“We thought you were Catwoman again” he explained. “Batman isn’t talking to her, so he sent us down here to show her how much he Isn’t Talking to her.”  Lovely.  Well that explained the pissy mood and shouting earlier.  The only thing worse than those two not getting along was them getting along.

“Well if I see her I’ll tell her to give Batsy a kiss.  I’ve got to go, but you boys make sure that this random civilian who I’ve never seen before in my life gets home safe you hear me?”  With a wink at the still pouting Robin, Harley skipped off.

“You should not associate with painted woman Chapel.”  Only Damien Wayne could look that prim while wearing red leather kevlar, green leggings, and a yellow cape.  “Then again you seem content to consort with our brother so I suppose bad judgment is to be expected.

I stuck my tongue out at him.  “Golly jeepers you’re in a bad mood!  How did you get un-grounded long enough to patrol?  And Wing you need to have a talk with the little birdy, he’s gonna get his face bashed in if he says that in front of Ivy.”

Grayson nods and said something too quietly for me to hear.  Damion stomped off and Grayson stepped closer to me.

“Look I’m sure that he deserves it, and I know he is a right idiot most of the time, but Jay is out of his mind with worry because you left your phone and nobody knew where you were.  He came to the cave and tore into dad then ran off.”

“So this was a mission to hunt me down?”  I glared at him, honestly more pissed off about this than the original fight.

“A little, we were worried too,  but I’m not going to tell him that we found you.  You deserve to go where you want without us tracking you down.  Just… if you want, maybe let him know you are safe?  If you don’t want him around for a while I’m sure he won’t.  And if he doesn't listen I’ll kick his ass…”  Poor Grayson, between Jason and Bruce and Damian, it was a wonder his hair isn’t completely grey already.  I put a hand on his arm.

“It’s fine, thanks for worrying.  I’ll text the drama queen and let him know that I’m alive.”  The look of relief on his face was concerning.  I was going to have to find out exactly what Jason had threatened to do.

I nod to Nightwing, flipped Robin the bird, and start walking.  I know that they will follow me from the rooftops no matter what I say so I just ignore them and head for home.  When I get there I use the spare key let myself in and wave one more time at the boys.  Then I find my phone and stare at the screen for a long minuet.  Finally I type, “Home safe.  Come by after patrol and we can talk.”  I think for another minute then add, “bring some ice cream and I might even forgive you.”  It’s not even thirty seconds later that my phone dings, “Mint chocolate chip?” and then, “I’m sorry.”  I smile.  We’ll work it out.  We always do.

Maybe I’ll even take Harley’s suggestion and find someone to talk to, maybe it is time that I unpack some of my baggage.  Besides, even if I wasn’t already nuts, this family is enough to drive  _anyone_  loony.


End file.
